


Gloria

by Taua



Series: Tumbrl Inspiration [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon, Gen, based on comic, fluff I think?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 05:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20595152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taua/pseuds/Taua
Summary: Vanitas keeps running, but the light always finds him.And as he waits he makes a completely new experience.(Based on a short comic, link in author's note)





	Gloria

The tunnel echoed every single step, the clacks of the heavy boots regular as he walked through it. Surrounded by walls made of solid bricks, their usual red turned to gray and black in the shadows of the moist environment.

But it was okay. Vanitas didn't need light to find his way through the darkness. Never did, never would. His steps remained steady and secure, head carried high on his shoulders.

The light would never leave _him_ alone though.

For a moment at least he sneaked off, hid himself away in the darkness he felt so familiar with instead of following the too bright images of the wielders. It was only a matter of time before Xion and Roxas called Axel and admitted they lost him – disappearing was easy enough, since the two had the attention span of a goldfish – and then there would be three people searching the city for him. Maybe an hour later they would give up and either call for Ventus or Sora to eventually point where he was. Without the corridors of darkness Vanitas could barely walk far enough to escape, but that didn't stop him from trying time over time.

The lack of punishment afterward spurred him only further on. Not his problem the lights were too soft to chain him up or wrap a leash around his neck to keep him close.

Absently he stretched a hand out, tracing the bricks as he walked. He hardly felt the texture through his suit, but he could tell it was rough. Ever so often his nails would get stuck, a slight pull on his digits before he was free to move on. The echo was soothing, as well as the solitude, though it carried the slightly bitter taste of loneliness with it. It made breathing a bit harder, even as Vanitas was without his mask. The piece wrapping around his yaw would dig into his skin when his breathing was anything but calm and controlled, a constant reminder of how important it was to keep himself in check.

At first he had been so frustrated and furious the lights took it from him he forced it to manifest, over and over, only to end up shattered by a mere touch from one of the wielders. Kairi and Ventus broke it in the matter of heartbeats, with their purest lights. The others took considerably longer, though in the end it always got off. One time he kept stubbornly making it for one and a half days, but they ganged up on him and took turns. By the end he was the only one to collapse from exhaustion.

Vanitas could summon it now, keep it on for at least a while, but for the time being he felt... okay without it.

Suddenly a strange wave worked through his body, not painful but still strong enough to put him on edge.

Damn it. He could clearly sense Ventus, his light glowing softly as it tracked him down. So much about his little trip.

A heavy sigh on his lips Vanitas stopped, his hand leaning flat on the brick wall. For a moment he considered rushing for it, if only to spite Ventus and the others, however somehow he couldn't bring himself to move his feet. So instead he bend his knees, lowered himself slowly. Eventually he sat on the cold ground and turned a little, barely enough to lean his upper body against the wall while he stretched out his legs, arms simply hanging down from his shoulders. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, felt the moisture of the air to the point he tasted it on his tongue. Old and heavy, fitting for some underground structure.

Slowly he tilted his head to the side where he came from. The path was still in shadows, the end of the tunnel so far away its light went out. Still Vanitas had the unmistakable feeling that the light was coming anyway, marching on toward him until he was finally found.

He could run and hide as much as he wanted – but the light would always come back for him.

A good while ago, that though terrified him. Vanitas was evil, a being full of sick emotions that needed an iron fist to keep them from destroying world after world. If the Keyblade wielders with their gentle hearts represented the light, he was the personification of darkness. They were natural enemies meant to clash for all eternity. And yet those very lights, if on a whim or actually planned, he didn't know, took him in and showed they had _options_. There was no light without the dark, and vice-versa. So, with bottomless naivety, they forced the idea of coexistence upon him.

On _him_, _Vanitas_, Keyblade wielder of darkness, master of the Unversed and bringer of chaos.

Even now that sounded hilariously stupid.

And yet there Vanitas was, patiently waiting in the dark for the light to find him, win yet again another game of hide and seek. To bring him back to idiots and geniuses alike, to goofs and dorks, to heroes and friends. But instead of gritting his teeth in a snarl and clench his fists until they hurt, Vanitas found himself calming – and for a short moment, for a fleeting heartbeat, he felt almost _relaxed_.

Suddenly Vanitas shivered in another familiar sensation – the creation of an Unversed.

It stung, like always, and he pressed his eyes shut as the being drew energy from him to manifest. At least it was going to be a small one, as the pain was mostly bearable.

When the flow stopped Vanitas released a breath, his body relaxing from its tension little by little. He kept his eyes closed, unwilling to see what kind of darkness currently dominated him. It was annoying more than anything, especially when he wasn't even _sure_ what feeling had caused it to manifest in the first place. The lights had such an easy time reading him, _the_ _least_ was that Vanitas himself knew-

Speaking of light... the space before his closed eyes was suspiciously lit.

Opening his eyelids Vanitas looked around, confused since he neither heard nor felt Ventus closing in on him. Yet the area was suddenly illuminated, faintly only, but enough to cast the shadows off his grim features and wild mane. And then he felt a light push on his upper arm, slightly from behind.

He tilted his head towards it, face unusually calm, and eventually spotted the source of the light.

_This... is new_, he thought to himself as he inspected the... was it an Unversed?

It was was about as big as a Flood, but where Flood was all sharp angles and viscous air, this creature had softly formed limbs and ears that curled gently behind its back. It yipped at him, ever so lowly, and rubbed its fuzzy neck against him. The colors were odd, too; the ears faded into a vibrant yellow, just like the tips of its collar and limps, and big, roundish eyes a few shades brighter than his own looked up at him excitedly. It's body was a soft white, but it began darkening as it solidified further.

Bewildered Vanitas turned towards the creature, eyebrows drawn together and golden eyes just a bit wider in wonder.

_This__ manifested from __me_. He was so confused he couldn't even properly close his mouth, his lips parted in a tiny gap as he breathed.

Tentatively he reached out and stocked the much too tempting, fluffy collar. _It's so warm_, he thought as the creature began to purr at his stroke. _How?_

Staring at the creature in his lap, Vanitas couldn't help but remember about the old days, about the fights at the Keyblade Graveyard. He stood there, bathing in sweat and his own blown up ego, ready to show the lights to hell and back, even if it meant his own destruction. The underside of the shattered reminders of his mask dug painfully in his neck, making it hard to breathe, yet he swung Void Gear over and over, meant to kill and hurt and perish in the process.

_I'm a being of Darkness. It's what I am._

He was _Vanitas_, Keyblade wielder of darkness, master of the Unversed and bringer of chaos.

But when he looked at it now, Vanitas realized he had just been a scared and abused creature. Something that deserved pity. That needed _help_.

_It's what I am, is it?_

Carefully he picked up the creature. It had turned into a rich blue with the yellow highlights, the symbol of Unversed marking it in the middle of its back. A faint light glowed off its body, gentle so not to blind Vanitas as he pulled it against his chest.

_How and why was I able to create..._ , he thought as he lost himself in the yellow eyes,  _… Something not dark and negative?_

As if it understood – perhaps it even did, for what Vanitas knew – the creature leaned up and nuzzled his chin affectionately. And for whatever reason an image of Ventus popped up in his head at the touch, of him walking through the streets while the sun slowly set behind him, a smile on his lips as he whispered 'I'm so happy...!'

The warm, soft creature in his arms that cheered him up and lighted his dark with its gentle glow... This incarnation of pure feeling that was nothing like what usually emerged from him...

Tears gathered in Vanitas eyes at the sudden realization.

_This feeling_ . The tears ran freely down Vanitas' cheeks as he smiled, gathered at his chin where the creature nuzzled them away.  _Is this what he calls- happy? _

A sob and a laugh worked its way out of him and Vanitas leaned comfortably back, his hand stroking the endlessly soft, _warm_ fur of his Unversed. It yipped again and curled into his touch, the long ears brushing his chin so faintly it tickled.

This new creature needed a name. Something fitting for its cheering aura and that somehow also expressed whatever Vanitas was currently feeling.

“I'll name you,” he whispered, the smile still tugging on his lips and eyes crying tears of happiness, “Gloria.”

Gloria looked up at him, purred in approval, and then leaned happily into his caresses.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> This piece was actually my first work with Vanitas LOL.  
But as it's based off a fancomic, I wanted to have the creator's approval before I post it :)  
You can find her comic here:  
https://linvaniin.tumblr.com/post/184193305036/is-this-what-happiness-feels-like  
Now go and shower her with love! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it ^.^  
Don't get carried away though; I'm usually super slow at posting and updating, but my inspiration got sparked heavily which had my fingers fly across the keyboard <.< 
> 
> Regards,  
-T


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